vulgarweed | Back home at the old front porch

Back home at the old front porch

So there's a little bit of a movement afoot to get folks back on LJ for some old-fashioned posting at length and the kind of posting and discussion that just doesn't work very well on Tumblr and I'm all for it. Though I've certainly been part of the problem. Tumblr is just so easy - push the reblog button again and again and my blog is covered in smutty fanart and funny cat gifs. (No one's disputing that Tumblr excels at those forms). And there's always so much new to look at. Participating on LJ takes more work, because you actually have to have something to say. Which I often do not.

The worst things about Tumblr is that long conversations are impossible to read and follow for very long, especially because of the way they branch out. Ugh. And the lack of privacy settings irks me too. We're raising a whole internet generation who think "friendslock" is a Sherlock AU where all the characters are witty, quippy 20somethings living in improbably spacious Manhattan apartments. I love Tumblr. But there are still alternatives.

So Happy Solstice everyone! Writing recap next post.

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HAHAHAH oh man, that is useful!

Feel free to steal it. My gift to the Tumblr refugees. :)

THANK YOU

May I grab that as well? That's one thing I do like about Tumblr - being able to "like" something without necessarily having to comment on it.

Of course, it's for anyone.

Oooh! Stealing this too... :-)

We're raising a whole internet generation who think "friendslock" is a Sherlock AU where all the characters are witty, quippy 20somethings living in improbably spacious Manhattan apartments

That's an AU I'd love to read! It's feeling really nice and homey to be back here, I have to say. :-)

It is nice, isn't it? It's like having friends over on the front porch.

*whispers* writeitwriteitwriteitwriteitwriteitwriteit.

;-)

Nod nods.

I can't get my head round tumblr but I am going to try harder there whilst staying here as well

It does have its advantages. There are a lot of things it's really good for. I just find that longer, more in-depth discussions just is not one of them.

'"friendslock" is a Sherlock AU where all the characters are witty, quippy 20somethings living in improbably spacious Manhattan apartments' *snerk*

heheheh.

So there's a little bit of a movement afoot to get folks back on LJ for some old-fashioned posting at length and the kind of posting and discussion that just doesn't work very well on Tumblr

That's got to be the best news of the day!

I've tried, but I just can't get into Tumblr. Sure, there's some nice stuff to look at when I bother to run a search, but it lacks about everything I was looking for in an LJ-replacement.

Yeah - some folks are deciding to be the change they want to see in the world. I hope it sticks!

*crosses fingers*

Coming back to LJ is like visiting my university at homecoming - it's all very familiar but at the same time, it's changed or I've changed or both, and I have to re-acclimate to it all over again. (Which is funny considering I was over 30 when I started my LJ in the first place). Also, LJ for me is much easier to navigate on my laptop vs my phone; at least with the Tumblr mobile app I can save posts to my drafts on my phone, and edit/schedule them later. It's hard to get verbose (at least for me) on a phone keyboard. Case in point: I saw this post of yours last night on my phone, but it's only now that I'm at my laptop that I'm responding. That being said, LJ lends itself well to conversations, and I like the fact that I can restrict my posts to certain audiences. So yeah, I'll be popping up over here now and again, particularly since more of my Sherlock friends are drifting back to this platform.

I know the feeling! You and I are of an age, I think - I started this LJ in 2002, and I was in my early 30s then. We've adapted to Tumblr fairly well for old farts. :) But I'm kind of a luddite too in that I really don't use my phone for all that much online fandom stuff but reading fic and leaving kudos: I really need that two-handed QWERTY keyboard to get my thoughts down as quickly as I think them, and if I can't do that I get too frustrated to bother. So I do the same thing you do - bookmark the interesting stuff that merits more in-depth comments and come back later. (Of course, all too often, you know, the best-laid plans . . . )

God, the friendslock function - how much Tumblr drama could that one little thing have prevented, or at least mitigated? For want of a nail, the kingdom was lost!

Yeah, one of my in-the-future tech purchases is a tablet with a keyboard built into the cover (I'm thinking the Surface 2 Pro, because I'm an IT geek and I think the iPad is little more than a toy), so that it's easier to be social on the go ;)

My God, FRIENDS LOCK - and it's cousin, the tiny filter - SO much drama could be prevented with that. I think that we have adapted well to Tumblr, and one of the reasons we do well there is precisely BECAUSE we're older, and know how to pick our battles. I give a lot of the drama a wide berth because it's just not worth my time, whereas I think the younger generation - particularly the high schoolers and some college kids - haven't learned that skill yet. And that's not a dig on them; I remember being that age and having no filter and thinking that the world was black-and-white and WHY DON'T YOU SEE THINGS MY WAY WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU. Thank god I've mellowed ;)

Yeah, we'll see how this all works out.... part of me just fears it means being permanently behind on multiple social media platforms all at once, and LJ makes me feel guilty about that fact in a way that tumblr doesn't. Because you will NEVER catch up on Tumblr.

Back in LJ's heyday, I had that "could never catch up" sense about it too, and I felt guilty because everyone's posts I missed were so interesting. For me, it was at least as much of a time-sink as Tumblr is now. But the guilt had more substance.

I feel like when I fall behind on tumblr, it sucks, but you can't keep up, and probably at least half of what you're "missing" is the same gif sets you've already seen twice.

LJ.... people are probably marrying, dying, moving, getting new cats...

I feel that way about Facebook too.

The frustrating thing at least for me is while it's easy to find people's accounts on Tumblr, it's easy to network fans, on LJ if you don't know people it's hard to find them. So if you or anyone else knows of good, thought-provoking or fun-to-hang-around Sherlockians here on LJ, please do feel free to name drop so I can make sure I'm following it.

And now you've got me casting Sherlock-as-Friends. This is not going to end well.

Seriously, I think both platforms have their advantages and disadvantages; what I'd like to see is a bit of balance. The great thing about LJ is it feels like people know me as a person around here and so I can express opinions or even ask questions that I couldn't do on Tumblr because they wouldn't necessarily have that context. Tumblr has its virtues as well, as you point out, but so does LJ, and I'm kind of glad to see people coming back.

I WANT TO BUT I CAN'T. I'll be working extra hours and traveling during those weeks and it's just too risky. I'll be reading everything, though, you can take that to the bank.

For fun Sherlockians on LJ, just look at the people who've also commented on this thread. :D (Not all of them are Sherlockians, true. But they're all good people.) I'm so happy to see responses.

Balance is key. It always is, isn't it? Your point about the years of context and social capital built up here is an excellent one, and it would be such a waste to discard all that. I've never been one to change my username frequently or use sockpuppets or any of that - I get the reasons why people might do that, but I really like the continuity of having had the same username on pretty much all fannish platforms for 12/13 years now. I really value the people I've been friends with for all that time; I feel those are real solid friendships even if we've never met face-to-face.

while it's easy to find people's accounts on Tumblr, it's easy to network fans, on LJ if you don't know people it's hard to find them

How odd. The exact opposite was true for me: I couldn't find anyone to follow except the few people I already knew - and most of my friends said they didn't even want to give it a try since they couldn't find anything there.
Of course with nobody actually active around here it's been no use either, but back when LJ was alive I had no problem finding people.

I gave the Corsair one Kudos on AO3 and then remembered that I wasn't signed in. It's lovely and the way you worked in so many different universes is rather brilliant. Especially using Adam as the diabolus ex machina to save reality (and having him be Mazikeen's son!).

Edited 2014-06-24 11:30 (UTC)

Wow, thank you so much! That story was a big challenge - it was written for

go_exchange and the recipient wanted a story that involved The King in Yellow, and then it just exploded on me, because there were so many ways it could all link up.

Adam is the best diabolus ex machina! And the thing that's always bugged me about GO, the big unanswered question is, we know who Adam's father was, but who was his mother? The question's never even asked, much less answered. So of course I turned into a headcanon where DC-Vertigo!Lucifer is his father and Mazikeen is his mom. This isn't the first time I've written that! (Also, I want pet Mazikitty with her fucked-up face, don't you? D'awww)

My understanding of Antichrists is of the vaguest, but I always rather thought that his mother had to be human, in the same way that Christs presumably have to have a human parent as well. But of course if we are looking for a complete opposite, then the mother could be Mazikeen and the father could be a human.

I'm really pleased about this. Like many others, I just can't get the hang of tumblr. It's OK for downloading images and reblogging, but there's no dialogue -- to me it's just input and regurgitation (which, when you think about it, is pretty much high school in a nutshell). At least LJ gives you the opportunity for feedback and concrit.

There is dialogue on Tumblr, but to me it's really awkward and hard to follow and hard to reply to, and impossible to keep in one centralized, easily-readable place. And the tendency for high-school-level "telephone" games is off the fucking scale, in fact, it's difficult not to do that no matter how hard you try.

The two platforms have very different strengths and weaknesses. Both are useful and valuable - but I think LJ is suffering because Tumblr is so much about the instant gratification that it's very seductive. I want to keep both.

Absolutely agreed on the Tumblr issues. It's caused me to develop a shorter attention span, and that bugs me.

All right, I'm moving back home. I guess I'm too old to fit in well with the young whippersnappers on Tumblr anymore.

Yeah, I've found I get a lot more done when I lay off Tumblr for a day or two. All things in moderation, I suppose (including moderation!)

I'm not leaving Tumblr, it definitely has things about it I enjoy. I just want to make sure to keep a foothold here too and not let it die of neglect. I have a paid account here, ffs! :D

I know exactly what you mean. It's like a sinkhole of awesome pictures and links, hard not to get caught up for days, hah.

Yeah, I won't leave it either, not entirely, even though it's not totally right for me. Unfortunately most of the things I followed on LJ are all but dead and/or moved to Tumblr now. Blah.

Glad to have you back! Yuo've been missed!

I've been slowly drifing more and more offline, and I hate it - but laziness all to often wins out. And like you, I often feel as though I have nothing to say. But not posting doesn't help, it only lets friends drift away, and I don't want that!

Missed you too! That aspect of keeping in touch with old friends is really important and I don't want to let that lapse beyond the point of no return.

Oooh, intrigued by a possible Friendslock Sherlock AU. :D

I love Tumblr for how you can find so much shiny stuff - gifs, amazing hi res photos, humour, fannish info - and it's so fast, but on the flip side it is oh so impersonal, unless you spend insane amounts of time trying to be seen and heard. Let's see how this Back to LJ movement goes. :)

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Back home at the old front porch

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come-at-once signups open through the 22nd

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